Could've Been Us
by DarkHybridChild
Summary: "That could've been us." Cloud and Squall discuss what might've been had they not ended the Cycle the last time when their Kingdom Hearts selves show up in all their adorable idiocy, and if they'd change what they have now or not.


_**Could've Been Us**_  
_Dissidia: Final Fantasy / Final Fantasy VII / Final Fantasy VIII / Kingdom Hearts_**  
Rating: **PG.  
Warnings: Humor, snark, Alternative Selves/timelines, basically Squall and Cloud comparing themselves to their KH counterparts. Adorable fluffyness and idiocy.  
_Pairings:_ Cleon, Quasi-but-not-really-Cloud/Squall, Implied/hinted Seifer/Irvine/Squall and implied/hinted Cloud/Vincent/Shelke.  
**Notes:** Totally blame the KH Costume DLC for Squall and Cloud for this little blurb. Also blame the FF8 remaster. I am not sorry for any of the fluff and derp that these idiots spew out. Also this setting is in NT-land but it assumes the crap/happenings from my forum roleplay to explain why characters that aren't in NT are there and all. (Long story short: It's a Dissidia/Fire Emblem crossover roleplay.) Also this is the first thing I've written and actually finished in like a year and a half. Oy. -flops- I'll let you read on now. Enjoy!

* * *

Squall Leonheart and Cloud Strife stood side by side one another, leaning against the railing of the balcony of Materia's tower, gazing down to the scene below.

On the ground was the strange, alternative versions of themselves squaring off against Gabriel and Demosthenes in a training match.

They came from a completely different world and timeline entirely, the other Squall was older, and went by the nickname of Leon instead of Squall, his hair was longer and feathery and Irvine had a _grand_ time laughing himself to tears at his Squall's expense with the wheezing of "I-told-you-so" thrown in somewhere as Laguna had taken that moment to appear, staring in bemused fascination at the uncanny resemblance the two of them shared.

The alternative Cloud, on the other hand, didn't look so different so much as dress different. Sporting a heavily altered version of Cloud's SOLDIER uniform, the startling aspect was the fact he wore a cloak that was near identical to Vincent Valentine's. But that also wasn't the most startling thing that stood out, no. What stood out the most was the single, leathery wing that trailed along behind the man's back on his right side, folded in.

There was also something about the familiarity and air of casualness the two shared that made them stand out.

The two had an easygoing chemistry, trading equal parts banter and wit as well as having near seamless teamwork that made it quite the challenge for many in Materia's group of Champion's to break through.

This was being proven yet again by how close the match was between the four.

"You know..." Cloud began, uncrossing his arms and began to turn away from the scene below. The practice was over. It was a draw.

Squall slowly let his eyes drift over to glance towards the other, a single brow arching in silent question.

The blond didn't catch his eyes, instead taking a few steps away, shaking their head briefly for a moment as if they were warding away some thought before finishing their sentence.

"That could have been us."

Before the brunette could even properly begin to process the other's statement, Cloud walked back inside the tower.

* * *

Cloud was watching in a distant kind of fascination from where he was leaning against a pillar in the courtyard of Materia's tower as his alternative self was talking rather animatedly with the other-Squall.

He couldn't make out much of their words from the distance he was at, but he couldn't miss the loud snort followed by the mentioning of someone named _'Sora'_. Cloak and wing aside, Cloud couldn't help but notice how the other him had quite the sense of humor and dry wit. He was idly curious as to how the other could almost have a childish-like grin on his face barely peeking over the rim of his cloak before it'd drop into a schooled blank expression as he delivered some sarcastic, cynical one-liner to the other Squall.

There was something about their closeness, the fondness that was obvious in their voices when throwing insults and quips back and forth at one another that had his mind turning over plausibility and probabilities in an endless circle of nothing more but distant, idle what-if's.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts he failed to notice the Squall he knew approach.

He was broken out of said thoughts, however, by the low-sounding chuckle the other emitted and startled briefly.

When he turned his head to look over at the other, the brunette was staring out at the scene he'd been watching, eyes flickering with held-in amusement at the voices that were now steadily rising in volume:

"It's a wonder you can even _wield_ that thing and not lose your balance."

"It's lighter than it looks, and _why_ would I lose my balance? Just what are you saying?"

"I would think with having only one wing it would make your equilibrium lopsided, how do you manage to not walk in circles?"

The indignant sounding response was lost to Cloud as the Squall standing beside him began to let out a quiet stream of laughter.

He blinked in high surprise.

Squall turned, lips just barely curved upwards to express his amusement as he shook his head.

"That could've been us." He murmured evenly before brushing past the blond and walking off towards the other side of the courtyard.

* * *

Cloud flopped down carelessly beside Squall, leaning against the brunette as his eyelids fluttered briefly before opening, eyes refocusing up towards the sky. His head took the opportunity to drop down onto the other's shoulder.

Squall made a faux-disgusted noise as he shifted his shoulder to nudge the other. "Ugh, don't go falling asleep on me, Princess."

"Only a Princess if 'm wearing a dress," Cloud retorted. snorting. "An' I didn't bring it with me."

"Ha," Squall replied dryly before once again shifting his shoulder to shake Cloud's head that was resting there. "Small miracles, then. But still, don't fall asleep on me. Your head's heavier than it should be considering you have very little inside of it."

"Pretty sure you're talking about your own head, not mine. Considering I can practically hear every thought that rattles around in there." Cloud responded sarcastically, reaching up a hand to lethargically poke the side of the brunette's temple.

"Stop that." Squall commanded as he swatted the other's hand away.

"Nuh-uh." Cloud hummed, teasing smirk rising to his expression as he proceeded to poke the other on the cheek this time.

"Go ahead, poke me again. I dare you to. See what it gets you." Squall goaded, fixing a deadpan stare towards the other.

An even broader smirk rose to the other's face. "'Kay." He agreed, before letting out a loud sigh as if the very notion was too much before he heaved himself to sit up before shifting to turn towards the other and this time reached over to poke the other square between the eyes.

...And let out the most unmanly, high-pitched squeak two seconds later because Squall snatched his wrist and took a nip at his finger.

"Leon!"

"I warned you," The other replied smugly, before they began to outright laugh. "But haha, the look on your face was priceless..."

"I hate you." Cloud whined.

"Uh-huh, sure. Whatever you need to say to make yourself feel better." Squall teased.

With flushed cheeks, Cloud yanked his wrist back from Squall's hold and _pouted_.

Squall only let out a chuckle as he leaned over to plant a kiss on the blond's rosy cheek.

* * *

"Could've been us," Cloud murmured over to Squall a few moments after the initial shock of the scene that played out in front of them wore off.

"You think...?" Squall mused quietly.

"From before... The Last Cycle. You really were one of the only ones that could understand me and make me laugh. We had a pretty good familiarity when fighting together, didn't we?" The blond turned his head to look at the other.

The brunette stared back for a moment, before casting his gaze back outwards towards the other versions of themselves and stared for a long while before finally looking back to the other.

"I guess so... But it's different now." They replied.

"Of course," Cloud agreed quietly. "Nothing stays the same, after all. I saw it in your eyes when your memories came back to you and you said there were people waiting for you."

There was a long silence between them before Cloud turned and began to walk back inside of the tower. "Coming?" He asked.

"...Yeah." Squall replied before following after.

Once inside, Squall came to an abrupt halt, causing the other to stop and turn towards them curiously.

"...Tell me honestly. Having what you do now, would you change it?" He asked.

To that, Cloud was silent for a long moment before he turned his head and took a long glance over the whole room as if searching for something. When his eyes came to rest upon red fabric and black gloves working a brush through a long, sheer curtain of mousy orange-brown hair and strained his ears to hear the light, soft humming, his gaze turned soft and a sincere, equally soft smile rose to his face unbidden and unguarded.

"...No, I wouldn't." He answered, before turning his eyes back to face the other. "Would you?"

Squall made a thoughtful noise, but like Cloud, let his eyes wander over the room for a long moment before settling upon the visage of a particular cowboy and a blond firecracker sitting at a table holding an intense stare between them with a plate of some kind of dessert settled between, each holding five cards in their hand. Unconsciously his eyes shifted color-tones, lightening from their typical stormy grey-blue to the clearer, lighter shade of ice-blue and an unrestrained smile began to slowly form at the corners of his lips. _'Idiots.' _Is the subconscious one-worded thought, warmth following along with it before he turned his attention back towards Cloud.

_"Never."_

The tone surprises them both.

Before either of them can say anything further, they're startled by the other version of themselves entering the tower.

Other-Cloud is carrying a loudly protesting Other-Squall bridal style and chuckling loudly as he passes by and the two of them can only catch part of what the blond says, something along the lines of _'going to pay you back for pulling my wing'_ and _'drop you down the crevasse when we get home'_, his wing fully outstretched and slowly moving back and forth with his steps as if acting as an additional rudder to steer with.

They watch him ascend up the spiral stairs and disappear when he reaches the next floor.

They're silent once again for a long moment.

"That-" Cloud began.

"-could have-" Squall chimed in.

"-been us." They both finished at the same time.

They both let out a chuckle.

"Could have, but wasn't." Squall stated, giving the other a light nod before he turned and sauntered away towards a particular table.

Cloud watched him go, before his eyes turned to glance one last time towards the stairs.

"Wasn't..." Cloud echoed, before he found his feet moving, directing him towards the sound of humming and red and black fabric, unable to fight the smile rising up, overtaking his expression as he turns his attention ahead.

_'I wouldn't ever change this...'_ Is the thought that goes through his head as he slides down the wall to join the two, a chuckle escaping his throat as the hairbrush is immediately shoved into his hand and the humming stops only for a moment as a head is transferred into his lap before starting right back up again.

Cloud obediently begins his dutiful task.

_'No, I wouldn't change a thing...'_

**End.**

* * *

Squall is in denial that he resembles Laguna despite Irvine's insistence. Leon showing up with his long hair just -proves his point-.

Gabriel and Demosthenes are the names of the Warrior of Light and the Red Wizard light warrior from FF1-land that I gave to them in the RP.

Ahahahahaha, I am totally not sorry about the princess and dress snark. I had to. Hell, I'm not sorry for any of their snark and idiocy.

Y'all remember the huge ravine/crevasse in KH2 in Radiant Garden? Yeah, that's the one KH Cloud threatens to toss Leon down. xD

And yes, that is indeed Seifer and Irvine playing Triple Triad and having a stare-down over a piece of dessert I hint at lmao.

Also to explain some events on Cloud's side: In the RP Shelke overcomes her degeneration like Genesis did and is restored and thus her body catches up to her true/real age and her hair grew really long and it pretty much takes Vincent and Cloud both quite a while to fully/properly brush it out when she lets it down/takes it out of the hairstyles she wears it in during the day, lmao.

Anyway, that's it. Hope you all liked it.


End file.
